INGREDIENTS

• 1 gallon apple juice
• 1 pound sugar (about 2 cups)
• 1 teaspoon yeast nutrient
• 1 teaspoon acid blend
• 1/2 teaspoon pectic enzyme
• 1/4 teaspoon wine tannin powder
• Wine yeast

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Remove 1 quart of juice (4 cups) from the gallon.
2. Place 2 cups of the removed juice in a small saucepan, and set the other 2 cups aside for topping off later.
3. Warm the juice in the saucepan. Add all the ingredients (except yeast) and stir to dissolve. Turn off heat.
4. Pour the sweetened juice mixture into the vessel with the apple juice.
5. Dissolve the winemaking yeast in a small amount of distilled water (about 1/4 cup). A packet is sufficient to start fermentation in 5 gallons of juice, so only use roughly 1/5 to 1/2 the packet. Allow the yeast to sit for about 10 minutes to rehydrate.
6. Add the wine yeast to the vessel with the juice.
7. Top off the fermentation vessel with some of the apple juice you set aside at the beginning until the level of the juice is at the base of the neck of the fermentation vessel. Leave 2-3 inches of headspace to allow bubbling.
8. Cap with a rubber bung and waterlock, and allow the mixture to ferment in primary for about 7 to 10 days.
9. After primary fermentation, use a brewing siphon to move the ferment to a clean fermentation vessel, leaving any sediment behind.
10. Re-cap with a water lock and allow the mixture to ferment in a cool, dark place in “secondary” for at least 6 weeks.
11. When fermentation is complete, bottle the wine in wine bottles and allow it to bottle age for at least a month before drinking.

Note: When adding 1 lb mixed frozen berries, at 5 months, add 1/4 lb brown sugar (1/2 cup), shake well.

Half wine, half sparking water when serving.